When Siena's Rob Poole played against Loyola's Robert Olson, they had a way of getting under each other's skin before Olson graduated last season.

The 6-foot-5 guards were mirror images who drew offsetting technical fouls during an on-court altercation in Baltimore last season. Poole later said of Olson, "I hate playing against him, but he's a good player."

Siena head coach Jimmy Patsos, who coached both of them, compared Olson and Poole to a basketball version of Biblical brothers.

"(Olson) is like (Poole's) alter ego," said Patsos, who left Loyola for Siena this season. "Cain and Abel."

That story didn't end well, at least not for Abel.

However, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference version of that age-old tale had a surprising twist on Saturday, when Olson attended the Siena-La Salle game in Philadelphia to see his old coach.

"It was cool," Poole said. "He was a good dude. He's a hard worker and it's nice to meet someone your coach (Patsos) really likes and thought he was a great player."

More Information

Siena vs. St. Bonaventure

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Times Union Center, Albany

TV/radio: TW-50, 1300 AM

Patsos has envisioned Poole being his new Olson, a sparkplug who helped Loyola reach the NCAA Tournament two years ago and was part of a senior class that won 75 games, the most in Loyola's Division I history.

While Poole hasn't led Siena to those heights, the junior is rounding into form with a team-high 19.3 points-per-game average heading into Tuesday's game against St. Bonaventure of the Atlantic 10 at Times Union Center.

Poole, who averaged 9.8 shot attempts per game under former coach Mitch Buonaguro, is taking 14.7 per contest for Patsos. His scoring average is up from 11.8 a year ago.

"I think he's playing better, but we're playing a different system and we're getting him a lot of shots," Patsos said. "I'm pretty proud of Rob Poole right now. He's been consistently good. He played well in Montreal (in the summer exhibition tour) and he's bought into what we're doing here."

Poole said he expects teams to guard him more closely as the season progresses. Still, he's seeing more opportunities than last season, when Siena pounded the ball inside to center O.D. Anosike.

"This offense is great," Poole said. "It's not based on one player, so everybody's going to get their fair share of shots. ... We all share the ball pretty well, and when you do that, the shots are going to come."

After the game, Olson had a piece of advice for Poole about playing for the demanding Patsos.

"(Patsos) likes you because he yells at you, but he gives you a lot of shots," Olson said to Poole. "That's how it works with him."

Poole said he welcomed the comparisons to the blue-collar Olson but needed to earn them.

"I think Olson has proved a lot more at this point in his career," Poole said. "I kind of have to work up to how good of a player he was. Jimmy likes hard workers and people who play hard and dive on the ground, and that's what he did. So I'm going to try to do that."

It would help Siena (0-3) if Poole can do that Tuesday against St. Bonaventure (3-0), which is outrebounding opponents by 14.7 per game.

The Bonnies are coming off an 86-64 blowout of Canisius, considered a legitimate MAAC contender.

"They're a great team, a veteran team, too," Poole said of St. Bonaventure. "(Assistant) coach (Greg) Manning said they play just as hard as any team we've played this year. When somebody beats (Canisius) by (22) points, it's a huge eye-opener. You have to be prepared to play."